Exchange 2007 calendar attendant declines conflicting recurring events
Joshua Harley
Exchange 2007 as resource mailboxes. Eveything was going fine until
one of our sites wanted a master calendar to hold all of the appointments
of the individual rooms. We were able to accomplish this by creating another
resource mailbox and instructing the bookers to invite the master calendar
into the event as well. Everything was going well until we hit one small
snag. Even with appropriate settings on the master resource calendar,
if the user tries to schedule a recurring event on one calendar and invites
the master calendar, the master calendar will decline any events that
conflict with existing items. Since the master calendar will have up to
38 calendars inviting it as a room, there are going to be conflicts, which
is expected. If the user is trying to schedule just a single appointment
that also conflicts on the master calendar, it is accepted as it should be.
The master calendar is really only used as a read only calendar that
is used to get an overview of all of the activites at a site. We are hoping
that it can be maintained through the other calendars with the help
of the Exchange calendar attendant.
As a current work around for our maintainers, they currently have
full access rights to the master resource, so when they submit a recurring
event that has a conflict they can override the calendar attendant
and manually accept the event, with all included conflicting appointments.
While this does allow them to get the master calendar to accurately
reflect the data on the other calendars (and allow deletion in case of
a cancelled event) it is less than ideal for our maintainers.
I have tried all sorts of settings on the master calendar to allow for
conflicts that I can think of.
I appreciate any help or insight on why it declines confilicting recurring
events even though all settings suggest otherwise. I have also included
the settings of the master calendar and the settings of a calendar that
has the problem at the end of this message.
Thanks!
Joshua
Master Calendar Settings (dcc-master):
----
AutomateProcessing : AutoAccept
AllowConflicts : True
BookingWindowInDays : 1080
MaximumDurationInDays : 1440
AllowRecurringMeetings : True
EnforceSchedulingHorizon : False
ScheduleOnlyDuringWorkHours : False
ConflictPercentageAllowed : 100
MaximumConflictInstances : 999999
ForwardRequestsToDelegates : True
DeleteAttachments : False
DeleteComments : False
RemovePrivateProperty : True
DeleteSubject : False
DisableReminders : True
AddOrganizerToSubject : False
DeleteNonCalendarItems : False
TentativePendingApproval : True
EnableResponseDetails : True
OrganizerInfo : True
ResourceDelegates : { ..., ..., joshua.harley}
RequestOutOfPolicy : ""
AllRequestOutOfPolicy : True
BookInPolicy : ""
AllBookInPolicy : True
RequestInPolicy : ""
AllRequestInPolicy : False
AddAdditionalResponse : False
AdditionalResponse : "<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Tahoma></FONT></DIV>"
RemoveOldMeetingMessages : True
AddNewRequestsTentatively : True
ProcessExternalMeetingMessages : False
DefaultReminderTime : 15
RemoveForwardedMeetingNotifications : True
Identity : dcc-master
Resource Settings (dcc-softmid):
----
AutomateProcessing : AutoAccept
AllowConflicts : True
BookingWindowInDays : 1080
(for other calendars, they are set to 180 - in case the issue was with the
submitting resource, not the master resource)
MaximumDurationInDays : 1440
AllowRecurringMeetings : True
EnforceSchedulingHorizon : False
ScheduleOnlyDuringWorkHours : False
ConflictPercentageAllowed : 100
(for other calendars, they are set to 0 - in case the issue was with the
submitting resource, not the master resource)
MaximumConflictInstances : 999999
(for other calendars, they are set to 0 - in case the issue was with the
submitting resource, not the master resource)
ForwardRequestsToDelegates : True
DeleteAttachments : True
DeleteComments : False
RemovePrivateProperty : True
DeleteSubject : False
DisableReminders : True
AddOrganizerToSubject : False
DeleteNonCalendarItems : True
TentativePendingApproval : True
EnableResponseDetails : True
OrganizerInfo : True
ResourceDelegates : { ..., ..., joshua.harley}
RequestOutOfPolicy : ""
AllRequestOutOfPolicy : True
BookInPolicy : ""
AllBookInPolicy : True
RequestInPolicy : ""
AllRequestInPolicy : True
AddAdditionalResponse : False
AdditionalResponse : ""
RemoveOldMeetingMessages : True
AddNewRequestsTentatively : True
ProcessExternalMeetingMessages : False
DefaultReminderTime : 15
RemoveForwardedMeetingNotifications : True
Identity : dcc-softmid
Robbin Meng [MSFT]
Hello Joshua,
Thank you for your post.
My name is Robbin Meng, and it is my pleasure to work with you on this
issue!
Please allow me to confirm that my understandings are correct. As I
understand it, the issue is:
Previously, you have set up some calendars on Exchange 2007 as resource
mailboxes, to hold all of the appointments of the individual rooms, you
setup a master calendar and instructing the bookers to invite the master
calendar into the event as well. why it declines conflicting recurring
events but accept a single appointment that also conflicts on the master
calendar.
If I have misunderstood your concerns please feel free to let me know.
Based on your description, I think you may consider Auto Accept Agent(AAA)
tool. It's a store event sink that automatically processes meeting requests
for resource mailboxes. The agent checks the availability of the resource
mailbox based on the resource's schedule (not free/busy), and accepts or
declines new or updated meeting requests.
Auto Accept Agent uses the following scheduling logic for scheduling single
and recurring meeting requests.
Single Meeting Requests
Auto Accept Agent accepts or declines new or updated meeting requests for
single meetings based on the following criteria:
" If the entire span of time between the start and end times of the meeting
request is marked as free on the resource calendar, the meeting request is
accepted.
" If any part of the span of time between the start and end times on the
meeting request is marked as busy or tentative on the resource calendar,
the meeting request is declined.
" If a meeting update is requested that overlaps the time of the original
meeting, Auto Accept Agent does not consider the time of the original
meeting as busy and allows the update to be processed. For example, if you
schedule a meeting from 15:00 to 16:00 on Friday and then send an update to
reschedule this meeting from 15:30 to 16:00 on Friday, Auto Accept Agent
accepts the update even though the resource appeared as busy.
Recurring Meeting Requests
Auto Accept Agent expands, accepts, and declines recurring meeting requests
according to the following parameters:
" If a recurring meeting request does not contain an end date or contains
an end date beyond the specified booking window, by default Auto Accept
Agent declines the request. If you set the EnforceRecurringMeetingEndDate
parameter to False, Auto Accept Agent expands and schedules meeting
instances up to the maximum allowed number of months that are contained in
the BookingWindowInMonths parameter. However, because the recurrence will
be truncated to the limit set by BookingWindowInMonths, the end date on the
organizer's calendar could be different from the end date on the resource
mailbox's calendar.
" The RecurringMeetingConflictPercentageAllowed parameter sets a threshold
for the amount of rescheduling required by the organizer when individual
instances are declined because of a conflict. It does not enable
double-booking.
" The RecurringMeetingMaximumConflictInstances parameter sets a threshold
for the number of conflicts allowed for a recurring meeting before the
agent declines the request. This parameter works together with the
RecurringMeetingConflictPercentageAllowed parameter, with the lower of the
two thresholds determining whether the meeting request is accepted or
declined. For example, if you set the RecurringMeetingConflictPercentage
parameter to 25 percent and set the
RecurringMeetingMaximumConflictInstances parameter to two, and then send a
meeting request with four instances of a meeting, a maximum of one instance
could conflict for the meeting request to be accepted. In this case, the 25
percent threshold for four instances allows only one conflict, even though
you have set the maximum number of conflicts that are allowed to two.
The default value for both RecurringMeetingConflictPercentageAllowed and
RecurringMeetingMaximumConflictInstances is zero. To allow for conflicts,
you must change both of these parameters.
By the way, users should always use the information from GAL instead of
using cached information in Outlook, as best practices to keep the
confusions away.
For your reference, please check following articles:
Managing Resource Mailboxes
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb124314(EXCHG.65).aspx
Understanding Auto Accept Agent
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb124617(EXCHG.65).aspx
Meanwhile, since we do not support AAA in this news group and we don't have
much resource on Outlook calendar configurations, you are also welcome to
post this issue in our special Outlook news group for more information:
Microsoft.public.outlook
http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/list/en-us/default.aspx?dg=m
icrosoft.public.outlook&cat=en_us_81f401b3-b3fe-4e8d-b291-066f30b63ec8&lang=
en&cr=us
More Information:
You should not register a resource mailbox for Auto Accept Agent in
Exchange 2003 when you set up a resource for direct booking in Outlook
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/903290/en-us
How to use the Group Schedules feature in Outlook
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/293162/en-us
Hope this helps.
Thank you for your time and cooperation!
Best regards,
Robbin Meng(MSFT)
Microsoft CSS Online Newsgroup Support
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Joshua Harley
Auto Accept Agent, but from what I read, the agent is for Exchange 2003
only. Our environment uses Exchange 2007 Enterprise and Outlook 2007 only.
If I misunderstood the agent, please let me know.
Thanks!
Joshua
""Robbin Meng [MSFT]"" <v-ro...@online.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:hvDrT921...@TK2MSFTNGHUB02.phx.gbl...
Tushar Shah
wrote:
> While I was searching for a solution to my problem, I did come across the
> Auto Accept Agent, but from what I read, the agent is for Exchange 2003
> only. Our environment uses Exchange 2007 Enterprise and Outlook 2007 only.
> If I misunderstood the agent, please let me know.
>
> Thanks!
> Joshua
>
>
> > Any input or comments in this thread are highly appreciated.
> > =====================================================
>
> > This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
> > rights.
You're right Joshua - refer to this doc.
The Auto Accept agent is an Exchange store event sink that
automatically processes meeting requests for resource mailboxes. In
Exchange 2003, you must use the Auto Accept agent for resource
mailboxes. Because Exchange 2007 supports automatic booking for
resource mailboxes, the Auto Accept agent is not required. To upgrade
an Exchange 2003 Auto Accept agent-based resource mailbox, you must
first remove the Auto Accept agent from the Exchange 2003 store, and
then move the mailbox to an Exchange 2007 server. After you move the
resource mailbox to an Exchange 2007 server, you can configure it to
automatically process meeting requests.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb124374(EXCHG.80).aspx
Robbin Meng [MSFT]
If you have migrated all mail flow to Exchange server 2007, as Tushar
indicated, please upgrade Exchange 2003 Auto Accept Agent-Based Resource
Mailboxes to Exchange 2007.
How to Upgrade Exchange 2003 Auto Accept Agent-Based Resource Mailboxes to
Exchange 2007
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb232130(EXCHG.80).aspx
How to Upgrade Outlook Direct Booking Resource Mailboxes to Exchange 2007
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb232195(EXCHG.80).aspx
More information:
Managing Resource Mailboxes
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb124374(EXCHG.80).aspx
aldom
I believe you are misunderstanding the problem here. The problem
descibed is the fact that it does not seem to be possible to have an
Exchange 2007 resource mailbox automatically accept recurring
conflicting meetings. It can accept individual conflicts, but in
recurring meetings, individual occurences that conflict are not
accepted.
I am having this problem too and can not seem to find any solution.
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Dana